LOST IN SPACE-The Sky Is Falling, Wish Upon A Star

NARRATION: Last week as you recall, the incorrigible Dr. Smith had once again slipped away from his assigned chores at the campsite. At this moment, however, neither he nor the other members of our space family were aware that they were shortly to encounter an incredible, mechanical creature from a far distant, alien world.

TEASER-fully recapped however the opening scene is one shot of Smith sleeping--a different take than the one they started with last week--this shot here seems to be taken just after Judy left Smith and we also see a very different shot of the Robot---with his arms out of his body.

Smith sleeps, his head against the back of the rock. The Robot is standing nearby, with his arms outside himself. Holding a bucket of vegetables, Judy comes and tells the doctor that Don wants his help at the drill site. Smith asks her to sit. She does and they look up into the sky. Smith says when there is something up there--he'll be the first to see it and alert the camp. Judy says, "Oh, Dr. Smith, you're incredible, absolutely incredible."Smith smiles, "Indeed, don't you ever want to leave this ghastly planet?"Judy says, "Of course I do, but its living in a dream world, Dr. Smith, to ever think a rescue mission from Earth can ever find us here."Smith says, "Perhaps not from Earth, but I'd welcome any form of intelligent life that might conceivably help us--a hands across outer space so to speak."Judy sarcastically but gently says, "I think I better let you get back to your work."She leaves. Near Smith, bushes move as Smith goes back to sleep, the back of his head against the rock. Taking his arms out now, the Robot says, "Approach of alien object."Smith tells him to be quiet--"One more word and I'll remove your power pack."From the bush, a metal crab creature comes out with a central claw and two spiked balls on the end of two long arms on either side. It whirs as it moves at him. He sees it and is unable to move. It has lower tusks and a large light on its nose, two metal silvery eyes. "Keep away from me!"(CLIFFHANGER ENDED HERE WITH A CLOSE UP OF THE CRAB). The claw comes right up to his face but stops after he screams loudly. It moves back. Smith crawls off and gets up and runs. It follows him. Smith runs back through camp, dragging Penny, who was preparing something in a bowl on the table outside camp. He takes her into the spaceship and closes the door, yelling for someone to help. John, Don, Judy, and Will come running into the Control Room. Smith warns them about a horde of mechanical monsters, telling John there must be hundreds, thousands. When John stares, Smith asks, "You doubt my word?"He tells them he has an ESP about danger. Will looks out the porthole and sees it. Will is joined by Penny and John. Penny calls it a little thing, harmless. Smith asks John if he is going to take a mere child's word over his "mine."John just turns and looks at him as if to say, "Yes."He looks back. Penny asks her dad what it is. He tells her they can take a closer look on the monitor. The crab comes up the ramp and stops at the door. Don looks, "It's dematerializing." John asks, "What?""It's dematerializing!"Don repeats. It slowly vanishes and then reappears slowly on the other side of the door in the airlock which is open. It comes in at them. John moves Will and Penny back. Smith holds Will in front of him; Don and Judy hold onto Penny. John shields them all.

ACT ONE

Freeze frame on metal crab. DERELICT and HUNGRY SEA music. It moves in some more. Will moves toward it and it stops when his foot accidentally hits it. John picks it up and takes it to the lab below. Don asks Smith where he is going--they will need Smith's help in the lab--need his overly intelligent observations. Smith wants to rest. We get a nice inside view of the viewport roof and interior area. Lab--Will and John change the antenna. John figures the central control unit has a selective computer that runs it--allowing free choice. It can matter transfer--a wild theory that says molecular structure can be broken down and reassembled at another point. John also figures intelligent life made this thing. Smith advises to destroy it. Will asks, "Why? It isn't doing us any harm."Smith notes, "As always you speak with the trusting innocence of youth."John figures it is a harmless data computer--taking rock samples and atmospheric samples. Don says, "Someone or something is making tests to see if the planet is conducive to another form of life."Smith wants to destroy it; Don says that's his solution for everything, "You're a self centered, selfish individual whose primary concern is only one thing--for himself."John stops them from arguing as usual. Smith goes to the galley to feed his inner man. When they all walk off, the metal crab's light goes on and it turns slightly. Smith tells Will to sit beside him. Maureen has sent the girls to the garden to get some vegetables for dinner, a task she assigned to Dr. Smith. Maureen says the crab resembles a large BUG. Don asks Smith where the Robot is and Will covers for Smith--he will go get it. Maureen goes to cut the cake and it vanishes. Will puts his head on his hands, "Oh no."Smith calls it a cruel adversary they are facing, John disputes this--they just wanted the cake as a specimen. Smith storms out, "What happens when they decide they need a human being for a specimen!"John and Don search a rocky area near a rock wall. Will is rock hunting when he sees a ray. A beam of light brings down some type of large ball amid a platform disk around it. An alien man appears wearing a pendant and headband. Will says, "Hello there, I'm William Robinson from the planet Earth."

ACT TWO

The alien cannot talk. Will runs to John and Don, telling them he saw it. John tells him, "Before you jump into anything, I want you to stop, think, and consult me."They go to the device, the man is gone, and John figures the device is a regenerator to reassemble matter. He wonders whether they are friend or enemy. When they leave, the alien man comes out from behind a rock. The men return to the Jupiter II where the girls and Smith have set the crab on a table outside. Penny tells John that Dr. Smith has programmed the Robot to compute the crab. Smith says, "You underestimate my abilities, Doctor Robinson."Don says, "Never mind the backslapping, activate the Robot."Robot tells them the aliens are warm blooded mammalians, 1.8 meters in height, 80 kilograms."He cannot give any further data. John says, "We're to treat our visitors with friendliness and kindness. I particularly want to stress that point to you Dr. Smith."Two more beams come out of the sky and they see them. Smith says, "It's positively raining aliens."He brings the Robot and the crab to a spot, telling the Robot to wait there for him. He figures the aliens have superior intelligence and so does he. For a brief moment we hear music from THE RELUCTANT STOWAWAY when John was putting on his helmet before going into the airlock). Smith arrives and their are more devices, one with a large mirror like device on top and larger circle platform floor. He brings the crab back and sees the alien doesn't understand about shaking hands. There are smoking things in the background. Smith tries to use hands to demonstrate what he means and seems to think thousands of aliens are coming from their planet. Smith knows all the rocks and caves on the planet and tells the man he can help them control "the natives"meaning the Robinson party. Smith denies the alien man his gun and pulls it on him when the alien gets too close. The lady alien gets a larger hand rifle. She gives it to the man. Will is by the rocks and a smaller alien boy sees him. He wears some kind of ties around his legs and the clothing looks very alien. Will tells the boy they are friends. Will shakes the alien boy's hand. The alien boy hears an alarm and runs off. Will shakes his head. Later, he tells the others at dinner that night (outside the ramp of the Jupiter II of course), "He was just like us except he dressed differently."John thinks the aliens are here to do what they originally set out to do--colonization. Smith arrives and tells them he went to the alien camp and that thousands will soon arrive---they are a small handful against thousands. Will knows he and the boy liked each other. Smith tells him, "An alien race, Will. Their emotional responses could be the direct opposite of our own. A laugh could mean deep hatred while a frown could be the friendliest of expressions."John forbids Smith to go to the alien camp site again, "We can live in peace provided we don't act prematurely."When Smith goes on about how evil the aliens are, Don asks, "Smith, have you ever in your life had a good thought?"Smith claims to be a realistic man and goes on and on about tens of thousands of aliens and on the other hand, the seven of them--John looks at Maureen and they both smile at this---Smith feels the aliens will put them in cages and make them sideshow freaks, "Hurry, hurry, hurry, see the freaks for only a quarter, folks."Will smiles and laughs at Smith and then looks at Maureen. Maureen tells him to please sit and eat but he can't. Smith feeling like a condemned man cannot even eat a hearty meal. He goes inside the spaceship, leaving the others befuddled. John stares, Don throws his napkin.

ACT THREE

The alien boy brings a ball to Will in the same rocky area. He gives it to Will and motions for the other boy to throw it. Will does and the ball turns (amid sound effects that would later be used for the Spindrift spaceship in LAND OF THE GIANTS and the doors on THE PROMISED PLANET in LOST's third season). Will laughs, "You can play catch with yourself."Will sneezes and says, "excuse me."The boy won't take the ball back. He lets Will keep it. Suddenly, the boy drops and the ball falls as Will brings the hurt boy to a cave to rest. John comes out of Jupiter II with Judy, talking, "Oh, Dad, really..."She laughs as he says, "I'm telling you, that's the way it is."They both go out to see a worried Maureen, who says she is just being a mother. John says, "Darling, you want me to go look for him? I'll call Don and we'll leave right now."He goes, Judy and Maureen smile as he goes off. The alien mother is worried about the alien boy. It is getting dark over the land. Will watches over the boy. We see a long shot of the planet. Don and John have laser rifles--Don's looks very odd. The alien man finds the ball of his boy (son?). Outside, the Jupiter, Smith asks The Robot the time. Robot answers--19 hundred and 32 hours. Smith says, "I mean the real time, not the space jargon."Smith suspects foul play has befallen their young Will and he needs every tool at his disposal to convince the Robinsons of the aliens' evil intent. He tells the Robot to shut up when the Robot tells him there is no evidence that the aliens are evil minded. Smith tells him when there is emotion involved, there is no need for evidence--"the right word in the right ear at the right time."Smith tells the Robot, "Don't look at me like that."Robot says, "I do not look. I merely stand.""You're probably thinking what kind of man would use a parent's love for his own preservation...and you're exactly right--my kind of man."He goes in to find a cheerful Judy trying to cheer up Maureen. He says, "Well, two of the loveliest ladies on this planet or any other planet for that matter."He calls Maureen a pioneer spirit of old, a Spartan woman who remains calm and hopeful while her only male offspring could be suffering indescribable torture at the hands of the enemy."Judy yells at him to stop it but he goes on. Maureen tells him, "He's only a little boy."Smith says,"Who knows after all they are beings from an unknown world."Penny comes down the ladder, "Mom! Dad's back!"She rushes up, followed by Smith. Judy and Maureen go up on the elevator. John goes inside, moving past and ignoring Smith. Don talks to Smith and tells him to keep his opinions to himself, "Ever since those aliens landed, you've been telling us what great danger we're in--well maybe we are but until something happens shut up."When Smith responds, Don tells him, "Shove off of it!"He moves to hit Smith but Smith runs away. The alien parents cannot drink their smoking liquid or eat alien food. They worry. DERELICT music. Maureen moves outside to John at night--telling him his dinner is cold. John is not hungry and she tells him she isn't either. Night, after dinner, Penny solemnly helps Maureen clean up but Maureen stops her, "Is there something you want to tell me?"Penny says, "You always know when I have a problem."Maureen smiles, "It's an instinct all mothers have."Penny was talking to Dr. Smith about the aliens. Maureen says, "I already know what Dr. Smith thinks."Penny says, "Mom, I think he's right."Maureen says, "Well, maybe he is--I just don't know."Penny says she talked to Judy and she feels the same way. They should go to the alien camp. Maureen tells her to start cleaning up and she will be right back. She goes to her cabin and shuts the door behind her, waiting for a resting John to tell her he is not asleep. He was thinking about Will. Maureen sits close to him, "So is everybody else."John wants to go to the alien camp site--one minute it is yes, the other no. John goes on, "You see, if we, if wewere on earth, I'd know exactly how to handle the situation but in this alien world with alien people and alien morality..."Maureen stops him and says, "I know..."John continues, "It'd be just two easy to make mistakes...and I don't want to do anything we'll all be sorry for later."Later, still dark but almost dawn, John finds Don fiddling with a plant branch or leaf. He tells Don that Maureen is handling it as well as could be expected. They try to figure out the aliens and why they haven't tried outright aggression before. Don says, "You know as much as I hate to admit it, Smith could be right."Will liked the boy but Don reminds him Will didn't meet the parents. John muses, "It seems youngsters from everywhere can get along...it's the...the adults who are always at each other's throats."HOLD ON HERE A MINUTE NOTE: This was true in 1965 and maybe even 1966 but today, today's children in 1997--the REAL 1997-not the 1997 of LOST IN SPACE---children cannot get along any better than their parents or any adults--in fact, children probably get along worse than adults--not having any respect for differences in each other--and, not to be so pessimistic--I've seen so called liberal kids of liberal parents--put down others more than anyone else. Okay. John tells Don, "Well, I hate to start a fight but I will."It will be dawn in a few hours and then they will go to the alien camp site--he tells Don he better get some sleep. Don leaves him alone to think about this.

ACT FOUR

Early dawn over the alien landscape: John and Don exit the Jupiter II with a just awakened Smith, Maureen, and Judy. John tells Maureen to keep the forcefield on and then tells Smith he is going with them against his will. Smith didn't want to take a rifle but does. Judy touches Don's arm, "Don, oh never mind."Don leaves. Will is resting in the cave. The boy wakes up and Will tries to take him home, helping out of the cave. John, Don, and Smith pass beyond rocks, Smith still protesting and trying to get to stay behind the rocks. John says, "You're coming with us, Dr. Smith."The alien man gets his hand rifle gun while the woman alien moves behind a rock with a rifle. Don pushes Smith ahead. John goes out to the man and tells the other two, "No shooting unless he starts."John puts his gun down and gives Will's height but the man corrects to his boy's smaller height. The woman peeks out and Smith thinks she is going to fire so he shoots at her. He hits a rock near her. John throws the alien man's gun down and runs, getting his own gun. The woman fires a slinky shaped ray at their rock hiding place. NOTE: If you look close the alien man takes the gun from her in a long shot, then in closer up--he takes it again! John tells Smith, "You just lost your nerve."Will lays the boy near a rock behind him and goes to John, Don, and Smith, telling them what happened. Smith scolds him, "None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for you."They each thought the other had each other's boy. Don says, "They'll think we had him all along."John tells him he is going to bring them their boy. Don protests, "Listen someone oughta be out there with you in case your ideas on universal brotherhood don't work out."John says, "Well, they better work out. Smith's right about one thing--before long there'll be thousands of them down here. This is our only chance to survive with them."John goes. Will says, "If there were only some way we could talk to them."John goes to the boy, "Don't be frightened."He is careful not to scare him and carries him back to his father and mother. NOTE: We can see the rocks around the alien base were cut out and down by the aliens to be straight on one side. The mother goes to the boy and then points to John, meaning for the husband to kill him with the gun.

TAG-unusual in that it is separate from the cliffhanger by an ad.

Don tells Smith, "John said not to shoot."Will jumps out in front of John; John pushes Will down, "Will, get out of here!"The man looks at Will. The boy moves to Will and shakes his hand and the adults see this. The alien boy looks at the man (some kind of communication?). The man throws his gun down. John gets it and returns it; John hugs Will's head as they return to the other two. The aliens beam up in the ray and their equipment all vanishes. When Will sneezed, he contaminated the air. Even though the anti-biotics cured him (did we see this?), the aliens had to leave. Will tells Smith to throw the ball but Smith turns around after he does--and the ball returns as Will tells Smith and the ball hits the doctor in the head. "Now he tells me."Don and John laugh. They leave; John reminds Will, "Get your ball, Will."Will says, "OK."

CLIFFHANGER-Smith yawns as he rests, goggles on, on a lounge chair near Will who is working on the Chariot with controls on a table in front of the vehicle. Smith tells Will, "You see, Will, even as a boy, I was determined to become a scientist--to work for the betterment of mankind."Will tells Don it is the centrifical repressor. After some verbal sparring, Don threatens Smith with a wrench if Smith doesn't help. Smith asks what are Don's orders and Don asks him to take the fuel cell to the back of the Chariot and leave it there for him to work on later. Smith jokes about Don being a capitan and Don warns him to be careful with the fuel cell--it can explode on contact with air. "Never fear, Smith is here,"Smith says, and goes to the back. Don asks, "I don't know why we bother with him, Will."Will tells him, "Dr. Smith has some good qualities."Don has yet to see any. Instead of putting it on the ground, Smith drops it. It lands and a small light goes on. Smith tells Don he wants to go to his cabin--he's weary. Don says, "You're always tired and hungry, that's your natural state."When we next see the fuel cylinder, it is smoking (and NOTE: it is not in the same position Smith dropped it in--it is turned on another side!). Smith goes to the ramp. Will smells something. Don does too, now, and gets up and runs toward the back of the Chariot, "The fuel cell. Get back! It could explode at any second!"Smith turns at the door of the ship and watches, in horror. Don grabs it up and tosses it. There is a rip roaring blast that seems to engulf Don!

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK, SAME TIME, SAME CHANNEL

REVIEW: Will's line of "If there were only some way we cold talk to them,"could almost be translated to the SPACE: 1999 episode SPACE BRAIN and in fact, Helena Russell says something similar at the end of that episode, "If only we could have communicated."THE SKY IF FALLING is very good LOST IN SPACE. Smith seems to have a few good points and the others note this but he is, after all, still the villain and still a prejudiced person. Some promo material and other books mention that the alien man is called Rethso, the woman Moela---these names are in the credits for the aliens. The boy doesn't seem to have a name. There is also some material that states these aliens are called Taurons. This may be in the script but is not stated in the episode at all. The boy's name is Lunon but this is not in the credits nor stated in the episode. In fact the actor who played the boy, supposedly Eddie Rosson, is not even credited in the end credits at all. This annoyance would cross over all Irwin Allen shows--the credits not listing the characters' correct names at times--if listed at all--or listing the wrong names which were from preliminary scripts or listing "The Alien"or "The captain".Sometimes, the aliens or monsters didn't have a name but at other times, names were given on screen which were not given on the credits--merely given as "the monster" or something like that. Other times, no credit is given at all.

This episode is one of the best. The language barrier was an interesting one and handled quite well--perhaps the first time it was distinctly handled in a prime time science fiction show. STAR TREK is always, wrongly, declared as the show of "universal brotherhood"but this is really not true--LOST IN SPACE is. While LOST IN SPACE may have had aliens in it from the second episode on, the true "bad"guy was Dr. Smith. Not the Derelict Blobs, the Taurons, or even the Invaders from the 5th Dimension--and these may have been from some kind of twisted Earth in an anti universe--not really aliens from another planet at all. The monsters that were just life forms and animals--the Cyclops, the electric tumbleweed, the man eating plants, etc---were also "bad guys"but not because they knew any better. If anything, it is STAR TREK with its Communists, Klingons, Romulans, Gorns, Tholians, and other hostile life forms that exhibit war like tendencies that marks THAT show as having aliens as Bad Guys. True, LOST IN SPACE turned that way in a way but not yet. Whole races of aliens were not evil minded yet. That would come with THE LOST CIVILIZATION, THE DEADLY GAMES OF GAMMA 6 and perhaps a few others--such as the Sobrams (THE FLAMING PLANET) and TARGET: EARTH's blobs.

WISH UPON A STAR

WRITER-BARNEY SLATER

DIR-SUTTON ROLEY

NARRATION: Last week as you recall, we left Dr. Smith dozing as Will worked over the Chariot. Will was unaware that, within moments, Dr. Smith's carelessness would imperil all their lives.

TEASER-totally recapped but one extra shot of a close up image of Will working on the two Chariot control panels is added right at the very beginning just after we see Smith on the lounge chair.

Smith yawns as he rests, goggles on, on a lounge chair. Nearby Will who is working on the Chariot with controls on a table in front of the vehicle. Smith tells Will, "You see, Will, even as a boy, I was determined to become a scientist--to work for the betterment of mankind."Will tells Don it is the centrifical repressor. After some verbal sparring, Don threatens Smith with a wrench if Smith doesn't help. Smith asks what are Don's orders and Don asks him to take the fuel cell to the back of the Chariot and leave it there for him to work on later. Smith jokes about Don being a capitan and Don warns him to be careful with the fuel cell--it can explode on contact with air. "Never fear, Smith is here,"Smith says, and goes to the back. Don asks, "I don't know why we bother with him, Will."Will tells him, "Dr. Smith has some good qualities."Don has yet to see any. Instead of putting it on the ground, Smith drops it. It lands and a small light goes on. Smith tells Don he wants to go to his cabin--he's weary. Don says, "You're always tired and hungry, that's your natural state."When we next see the fuel cylinder, it is smoking (and NOTE: it is not in the same position Smith dropped it in--it is turned on another side!). Smith goes to the ramp. Will smells something. Don does too, now, and gets up and runs toward the back of the Chariot, "The fuel cell. Get back! It could explode at any second!"Smith turns at the door of the ship and watches, in horror. Don grabs it up and tosses it. There is a rip roaring blast that seems to engulf Don! (THIS IS WHERE THE CLIFFHANGER ENDED). Will, having hid behind the lounge chair, yells, "Don!"He runs to him, John comes running out of the ship, past Smith. John runs to Don who is more angry than hurt, "I'm alright, I'm alright!"Smith comes to them and Don yells at him, "We could have all been killed because of your stupidity."John stops the two from arguing again. He demands to know what happened from Will since the other two won't talk now. Will tells him. John says they will drop it as Smith requests--it was caused by a malfunctioning bit of machinery. John brings up the hydroponic garden--it was Smith's responsibility this week but Smith claims he was so busy. He was about to go over there now; John tells him not to bother--"we no longer have a garden--it died of neglect,"he tells Will. Don comes back from cleaning himself up near the Chariot and if fed up with Smith--every time something goes wrong, Don spouts, Smith is at the bottom of it. Don calls him a troublemaker and adds, "The sooner we get rid of you, the better off we'll all be."Smith asks John, "Are these also your feelings, Prof. Robinson?"John stares and nods briefly. Smith will leave immediately. Under the tent near the table as they fix it to eat, Maureen, Will, Penny, and Judy talk. Will starts to ask Maureen something, "Mom--nothing, it was just a thought."Penny tells them that no one asked Smith to stay. Judy wonders if dad is going to let him go; John, coming out of the ship, tells her of course he is. He has to learn about responsibility even though Will says Dr. Smith can't shift for himself. Without them to lean on, John thinks Smith will learn pretty rapidly. Smith comes out with a parka and a laser rifle--what appears to be a different type of laser rifle from THE SKY IS FALLING and the early first season. Maureen has three food packs for him but he must not accept them. He goes--"it is time for my exile."He makes a sad face, telling all, "There is no use pleading."He starts out as Will says, "Take care of yourself, doctor." He is almost gone when Will says, "Good luck, sir."Smith waves; Will is at a pole to the tent, holding onto it and waves back (we see a good shot of the ring on his finger). John and Maureen sit down. Will sits and puts his head on his hands, his elbows on the table. Maureen says, "Take your elbows off the table, dear."Oh blow it out your ear, mom. I said that, not Will.

ACT ONE

John comes down the elevator--we get a good look at the lower deck ceiling. He goes into Penny's cabin, kisses her, and puts her arm back under her blanket. He finds Will awake, worrying over Smith. He makes Will go to sleep--Will sleeps with his head toward the wall--the opposite of Penny--who sleeps with her head towards the curtain door. On both cabin walls are framed pictures (?) or samples of small sea creatures (left overs from VOYAGE?) or flattened butterflies or something. The night continues as Smith is up, staring at his fire. He hears a hyena sound and looks around. He shoots a bush that keeps moving and a flying flat bottomed thing flies out (it looks a bit like those flying parasite monsters from Roger Corman's IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and NOT OF THIS EARTH). Day--boots come to Smith--it is Will, who wakes him up. He has brought breakfast. We see some wind blowing. Smith tells Will although he can live off the land, he won't let the blueberry rolls and jam go to waste. He tells Will he slept. Will packs him up--he picked a camp downhill--if it rains--he'd be flooded. Smith has on his parka. Will says, "Hup 1,2,3,"and Smith follows suit. They pass close rocks, Smith needs a rest. They come upon webbed up trees, covered in the sticky stuff. They see the wreck of an old spaceship. Will says, "I bet it crashed here centuries ago."He asks Smith, "Isn't that a place for you to live?"Smith makes the boy go first and Will wipes away the webs on the entrance. We can see the ribs of the outer hull. Will wonders about is past occupants. Smith says, "Considering our past experiences with aliens, I prefer not to conjecture."He orders Will to try the old door. NOTE: We hear a chime-like version of the usual scary music--this may or may not have come from THE DERELICT. It is not heard often--one example may be the variation heard in season three's VISIT TO A HOSTILE PLANET. The door is jammed. Smith tells him to leave it and asks him to stay. Smith will do the work and Will can watch, "My dear boy, you have the soul of an angel,"he tells will when Will agrees to stay. Will also might as well lend a hand and finds a small device platform. Smith tells him to throw it away but Will puts the hat on. Smith says he looks like the school dunce at Halloween. Will, hungry, would like something to eat. The machine lights up, the hat lights up and a sheeshkebob of smoking alien food appears in a tray!

ACT TWO

When Will wonders what happened, Smith say, "We're on a planet where anything is possible, Will."Smith makes Will try again. He would like a bike but the ground is not too smooth here. He asks for apples like back on Earth. It rains apples. Will eats one; Smith makes Will sort of promise not to tell anyone yet. Smith eats the alien food. Maureen, John, Penny, and Judy look at the apple under the tent. John found it in Will's room. At dinner, Will arrives late and isn't hungry. Penny says, "He's sick."John says, "Maybe he's full of apples."Will tells him it is a kind of unstated secret between him and Dr. Smith. At the alien craft, Smith makes his wine cup runneth over, "Cease and desist"he yells as it does. Will arrives and marvels at the large circle bed, couch, candelabra, and other delights. Will tells Smith he had to tell dad about the machine. Smith tells him not to worry and to have French pastry. Will thinks about Penny and Judy and the everyone else--it wouldn't be fair to them. Smith gives Will a full tray for all after tonight's dinner. Smith says, "You know, I've missed you, Will. It's been very lonely here without you."He tells Will he would have told the others soon--he's been testing it out. Will wonders--for four days? There is some sort of problem with the machine, Smith says. Will feels that he never intended to share it with them as Don said---Don said Smith didn't need them anymore and that he only cares about himself. Will wonders why Smith is keeping the machine if that weren't true. Will returns the pastry and runs away, "Goodbye, sir."Smith calls, "Will, wait a moment."But the boy is gone. Control Room: Penny reads a book, her hand covering the title and author, however one can deduce it is one of the NANCY DREW MYSTERIES--THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING______well, something. Don comes up the ladder to see her in a chair next to Will, who is in a chair, staring up. Don tells him Smith isn't worth the effort. Will says, "I know he was always doing things that were wrong but underneath...I like him...that's all."Smith thanks him, standing in the doorway, "Isn't anyone going to welcome the prodigal's return."Don wants to know what he wants. Smith says, "You misjudged me, Will."Don doubts that. Smith says, "With the aid of this incredible machine, I'm going to create another complete Jupiter II which will carry us safely through the heavens back to Earth."Will says, "Gee."NOTE: This music, also heard in the end of THE HUNGRY SEA, is NOT on the CD.

ACT THREE

Outside: Smith tells them to stand back--he wouldn't want them to be accidentally crushed. He walks around the are (floating music from RELUCTANT STOWAWAY heard) and closes his eyes, "There."It was not easy he claims. Don tells him there is nothing there and when he wants to tell some more fairy tales...but something does appear and smoke up. They see it--a tiny Jupiter II. Will and Penny take it and run off. There must be a limit to its power. Don moves off. Smith looks at the machine, "Traitor!"Lab: Robot tells John, Penny, Will, and Smith, "The impulses are picked up by the headset and transformed into high soanic electrical waves--sonanic waves are then fused with a radioactive center in the machine."He cannot compute any more. Penny feels it is like an Aladdin's Lamp. Will complains they are trying to find a scientific explanation and she comes up with fairy tales. Penny says, "The problem with you, William Robinson, you have no imagination. It's a wish machine."Maureen comes and asks if they've found anything out. John says, "Only how abysmally ignorant we are."Maureen wants to try it for something extra special for dinner. Smith tells her to take it--the machine can only be used twice a day. John won't try--he doesn't believe you can get something for nothing. Later, Don is under the Chariot and asks if that is Will that is clearing her throat--it is Judy with a new hairdo and new sexy, dress. Don asks for a wrench but comes out and hits his head, "Oh,"then sees Judy, "I mean wow."She made the dress from the thought machine. They go for a walk. Penny and Will pull at the machine between them. It was Judy's turn yesterday--Penny wants it for tape recordings, Will for lab equipment (WELCOME STRANGER western battle music). Penny tells him if it weren't for art there wouldn't be any science. Will says, "As Dr. Smith would say, nonsense and double nonsense!"Penny gets Will to stop pulling and tells him to ask Dad which one of them should use it. He goes down the elevator. We see the ceiling of the Control Room as Penny bends down and tries the machine to make her tapes (we hear MR NOBODY music). Later--under the tent, Will tells John that Penny tricked him and wants Penny to lose her turn with the machine for a couple of times. John sees that as a problem--who would get her turns--and the others would probably argue about that. Maureen brings Penny out. Penny tells him about Mozart, Bach, Beethoven. John thinks her selection is wonderful but wonders if she has anything by lie, cheat, or trick. John holds her hand, "I'm very disappointed in you--you sacrificed your moral principles for something material."Penny says, "Yes sir, I'm very sorry."He makes her sit down and tells her he never wants her to do that again. Maureen tells him, "Here come Don and Judy. You wanted to talk to them as well."John says, "Yes, I do."Don says hi to Will who returns the hello. The repressor on the Chariot isn't replaced yet--it was Judy's fault, she says---she asked Don to take her for a walk. She was supposed to be in the hydroponic garden. Will was supposed to help Don. John asks, "Well, does anybody care to make a comment? Alright then, I will. And it can be summed up in three words--the thought machine."Don supposes they've all been relying on it a bit too much but...Will adds, "Why work when the machine can do it for you?"John says, "Will, up to now this family's been getting along very well, we have respect, and love for one another and you cannot wish for those things with that and then we get this machine that makes dreams come true and instead of making us happier, it sows the seeds of discontent, mistrust, and indolence, I said a machine that makes dreams come true---nightmares can also be dreams."He takes it away from the table center, enters the Control Room where Smith is telling the Robot he is now passe and will have to be used as a menial or servant. Robot gives synonyms for outmoded. John tells Smith to get rid of the machine and if Smith won't do it, he will. Smith will take it, telling the Professor he has no right to destroy it. John says, "When it endangers our welfare I do."John tells him the Robot remains here at the ship---his precious machine can provide him with all the companionship he needs. Smith will leave in the morning. Next night: Smith is at his table at the alien wreck. He has lamps, the Mona Lisa behind him with curtains, and a dinner. Smith says, "I can have anything I want."He toasts, "To you, Mona."He drinks and lays on his stomach, too tired to get his coffee. Smith wishes for a servant for coffee. The machine blinks and continues to blink, unlike the previous wishes. The old door creaks open and inside we see a device from INVADERS FROM THE 5TH DIMENSION. A white faced mummy faced very tall alien humanoid walks out of the shadows within. It wears a black tunic and has white legs. It holds out its clawed hands and walks through the webs. Smith, his back turned, in his couch, says, "Two lumps, please."We see a zoom in on the monster.

ACT FOUR

The creature holds out its hands. Zoom out as Smith takes the machine and then realizes this is his servant. He orders it to take him the tray of coffee. It picks up the tray and throws it over, surprising Smith, who flees with the machine. It moans and groans for the device. Galley on Jupiter II: John and Maureen look over the bad fruit--it went bad in one hour. Maureen tells John the permafood is still working. Judy opens her cabin door, crying--she has no shoes on and the new dress is torn to ribbons. Her hair is a mess and down. She cries that Penny's tapes won't play either."Oh, mother."Smith hides the machine behind a rock and large grass and runs; the monster man follows, waddling or limping. His hands look atrophied or stiff. We also see the feet of the monster in the sand as it chases Smith. Control Room: Maureen and Will play cards on the table; John sits on the control panel, Don nearby on the floor against the control panel. The console has a large metal plate over it. Don predicts Smith, the bad penny, will turn up. Smith runs in and puts on the forcefield. He hides beneath the window. Will gasps, "Dad! Don!"The mummy man comes into view and his hands are turned the wrong way. He touches the force field and gets an electric charge which draws him back. Smith explains, "This time I am definitely not at fault."Don says, "That I don't believe."John says, "Smith, I want you give the alien what it wants."When Smith refuses, John orders Don to turn the forcefield off; Smith blocks Don. John says, "That alien has no quarrel with us."He insists Smith return it now but Smith tells him that thing is still out there. Will tells them it's gone. When they turn off the field, Smith says, "We'll all be destroyed!"They open the door. Don, Smith, and John go out with Will (what? why take Will?). Maureen closes the door and sees the thing come up behind the group from its hiding place behind a rock. She stares out but it vanishes. Smith takes them to the area; John pushes him ahead roughly. John makes Will pick it up. Smith tells John he's decided to keep the machine for that one day when they return to Earth. John moves Smith to the alien derelict where it belongs and the creature can find it. The machine whirs and the monster appears. Don gasps, "He's here!"Zoom in on its face. Don puts the hat down and aims his rifle at the monster. John looks at him, "Don't make any sudden moves, keep calm."John forces Smith to go ahead and take it to the mummy man. Smith first turns to Will, "Will, you take it."Smith puts it up into the monster's hands and it leaves, going back into the spaceship door and the door closes, creaking. Smith says, "He didn't harm me, he didn't harm me."This line by Harris sounds awfully Scottish or Irish or British or something. All the things from the wish machine vanish. Smith calls the mummy man a vindictive creature. Will says, "He must still be in there."Will runs to it and opens it. Smith yells, "Will don't!"He sound genuinely concerned for Will. John yells, "Will!"The door falls off. Behind the door is a heavy masking of webs. Smith calls the alien mean and unreasonable but John says, "The alien meant only good."Will asks, "Dad, I don't understand, why did the alien give us things and then decide to take them back?"John says, "Because Dr. Smith asked for too much. You know he could have anything he wanted but like most people, it wasn't enough--he wanted more. When he tried to create a slave, the alien realized this."Smith doesn't get it, "That vindictive creature."Will, innocently, looks up, "He would've stayed, doctor. We made him leave because we were selfish."An apple appears in Will's hand. He eats it, "He must have really heard me!"Don and John smile. Will bites into the apple.

CLIFFHANGER-Night: We hear the Robot (later the Jupiter II second and third season door sound) and see it standing near a small balloon which is attached to a rocket. Robot warns all people to leave the area immediately. In the control room, Will and Penny watch this via the window. Will tells her that rocket may be small but it has enough hyper energy fuel for a real blast. Robot does a countdown. This 6th try is a message from the shipwrecked "space sailors"to anyone who gets it for help. The rocket goes up. At 1000 feet, Will tells her it will fire up. Penny asks if that is when the pull of gravity will end and he tells her no but every bit helps. She laughs, "I know all about gravity."Will says, "Let's see what my balloons doing to it."(To gravity?). John walks through the garden. NOTE: For some reason the hydroponic garden is now in the dirt, not in tables anymore--isn't that dangerous considering THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE EARTH ?The balloon goes to 1000 feet and Will wonders what is holding it. It blows up. Two blasts. Robot warns, "Warning, warning, it's coming this way!"John runs behind Penny and Will. Penny yells, "It's coming this way!" Robot warns it is out of control. A ball of fire descends at Will and Penny who John takes and shields with his own body. Judy, Don, and Maureen run out of the spaceship exit to see this. The ball is almost on top of the trio (John has the kids under him).

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK, SAME TIME, SAME CHANNEL.

REVIEW: While this episode was outstanding, it would being a trend that would mar LOST IN SPACE almost for good: Smith and Will together find some alien device and it makes Smith greedy. A monster or alien is thrown in for good measure and that's it. While this episode and a few others like it later on, rise above that, this set a trend. The idea of a wish machine or machines doing everything for one is used in SPACE: 1999's GUARDIAN OF PIRI, equally well. Penny is a goof ball in this episode and other than some excellent acting from Angela Cartwright as Penny feels bad while John lectures her (wouldn't you feel bad if he lectured you?) and after, saves the character. Angela Cartwright did a great job as Penny through out the series but there are times when you can tell she is having too good a time as Penny (ie--laughing and eyeing Will in a typically childish manner). The wish hat turns up in THE SPACE TRADER as a language duplicator. The alien is not named in the aired episode but promo material and production crew call him The Rubberoid. Exactly what that means, I don't know--perhaps because the scary and excellent mask is made of rubber. Music is mixed to good advantage and camera angles and zoom in and outs are well done. Some of this doesn't work though: John is a bit too preachy and moralistic here, a nice character touch---but considering the wish machine could help them with spare parts, water, and food, his decision to return it to Smith or destroy it is a bit stupid. I also guess there are spiders on this planet to make cobwebs. The rocket craft set was a bit odd--it had outer ribbing and an interior inner door? It's set up was not too well designed. It was, however, atmospheric for the story and the scary parts. What was this monster-mummy-man-alien? A ghost? A projection? We are never told. The story works well though, overall and it shows how the Robinsons could be corrupted as much as Smith but how much they cared for each other in the end.